Air heater for motor vehicles



March 6, "1951 W. D. CU LLEN AIR HEATER FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed June 25, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll l F193 f Wa/fer 0. Cullen T INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 6, i951 A son furtherobject of the mvenuofli provide poverdiaft meaiis' for the oil v and wherein a downdraftis' provided-forgo (3- Hi1 supplied" to the burners to provide a; prhper oombusti'bnthere-foifi o 5 Astill further object'i'sto provide a; heet this chara'ctei including a wick type oi having-fiat fire tubesleadihg theifr'o' effectively heat the air circulating firound the tubes and providingan'outef shell-for the bui iiei' and insulated from the fi'ie tubestoi'duce heat ing of air admitted to the shell'wheifeby an effeetive'doWndraf-t of cooleir is provided which supplied to the burner in an efiectiv'eic'ombus tible mixture with the fuel: 7

A still further object is to" provide a: devise" of this character of simple and pieiletiealeonsti uc tion; whiol iis" efficieiat 'a'ndreliable operition, relatively inexbensiveto menufectuieamipther; wise well adapted for' the purposes for which-theselme-is intended; I r

Otherobjects andadvantages reside in the details of construction ami operation as; mote fully hereinafter described and claimed; rgeferenqebeing herito the aecompeznyingdrawings-- forming part hereof; wherein likenum'eiels refer to like parts throughout; and i i-whichi ,1

Figure 1 is a side elevations yievg showing the' heater mounted imposition to the-fife W931 of" an automobile; x W 0 Figure 2 is an enlaigedver tiee lseetiqfieijiew Figure 3 is a-trensvei se'sectionel-view tikeh one line 3-3"of Figur'e*2;;- I a Figure 4- is an enlet-rgecl vertical--sectional-view taken on aline 4- -4=-of--Fig u 'e- 3; Figure-5 is a similar view-taken- 1i ne'5 -5" of Figure I Figure 7 6 j is s transverse sectio' eltaken" substantially on a line 6- gf Figure fiya-rid;

. Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary veftice-l sectional view of a modified burner' construc-" tion: h

Reiefring now to the drawingsliridetegil whei v in fo'r the purpose-efillustratioh lgheve elose'd a preferred embodimento" the hive ties;- the' numeraye desigxia-tesit E cute Shel} ljfi'wherebyto regulate the'volume of air eas ixeaiiefil'eievemn Bhid vyiclgholder and suppo jaegl Joy ,one c more mated dlamtef 'shhtly less han upper portion of wick 22 and the sleeve is ver-' tically adjustable by means of a lever mechanism 34 attached to the sleeve, the raising and lowering of the sleeve exposing more or less of the upper portion of wick 22 to thuscontrol the flame thereof.

A plurality of flat fire tubes 35 extend vertically in air chamber I I with the upper and lower ends of the fire tubes suitably secured respectively to the upper and lower plates I4 and I3 whereby the products of combustion or heated gases from theburner will pass upwardly through the fire tubes and outwardly through a flue 36 in the top of inner shell I.

In the operation of the device, the disk 23 not only controls the volume of air passing through opening 20 but also provides an igniter for the wick by passing an electric current from circuit wire 28 upwardly through stem 24 to the disk, the edges of the disk forming a spark gap between eitherthe top ofburner shell I8 or the top of wick holder 2|.

Cool air under the hood'of the vehicle is admitted into the open top of outer shell and the;

heated gases from burner I [passing upwardly through fire tubes 35 will cause a downdraft of the airbetween the inner and outer shells 5 and I and into the perforated burner shell I8 for mixing with the fuel at the top of wick 22, thusproviding an effective combustion for the fuel. Cool air from the vehicle is admitted into pipe Ill where the same passes upwardly through air chamber I l and is heated by the fire tubes 35, the;

heating of the air in the air chamber II causing the same to circulate upwardlyfor passing.-

out of the outlet pipe I 2, to thus heat the interior of the vehicle. Y u In Figure 7 I have illustrated amodified burner construction which comprises a gas burner 31 supported centrally in a plate 38 suitably se-- cured to the lower end of inner shell la, the plate having draft openings 39 surrounding the burner.

An air inlet manifold 40 is positioned at the lower portion of the burner to supply air thereto for proper combustion.

: An igniting electrode M is supported at one 45 projecting from the sides of the sleeve vertically adjustable in slots 46 in burner shell I8.

Alinkage 41 connects the trunnions to a shaft 48 by the;

journalled in brackets 49 supported burner.

One end of shaft 48 projects outwardly through the outer shell 5 and to which one end of an arm 50 is secured. A vertical rod 5I' is pivoted at its lower end to arm 50 and is pivoted at its upper end to one end of a bell crank lever 52 pivoted to the upper edge of shell 5. A rod53 extends from theother end of the bell crank lever 52 to a posi tion for convenient operation of the driver of the car. I

In view of the'foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be had by those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by thespirit of. the invention as herein described and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A heater for motor vehicles comprising inner and outer shells in spaced relation to each other, said outer shell being open at its upper end and closed at its lower end, a burner in the lower portion of the outer shell and with the upper end of the burner positioned in the lower end of the inner shell, said burner having draft openings by means of which air is supplied to the burner from the outer shell by down draft, up-' 2. A heater for motor vehicles comprising inner and outer shells in spaced relation to each other,

said outer shell being at its upper end and closed at its lower end, a burner closing the lower end of'the inner shelland includ.ng a perforated burner shell below the lower end of the inner shell and exposed in the lower portion of the outer shell, a wick holder in the burner shell, igniting means for the burner, upper and lower plates in the inner shell forming an air chamber therein, an air inlet tube and an air outlet tube leading from the chamber outwardly through the shells, and fire tubes leading from the-burner through the air chamber.

" 3. 'A heater for motor vehicles comprising inner and outer shells in spaced relation to each other, a: burner supported by and extending from the lower end of the inner shell and having draft openings, a flue at the top of the inner shell,

said outer shell being closed at its bottom andv the lower portion of the outer shell, said burner having draft openings exposed in the lower portion-of the 'outer shell, said outer shell being closed at its bottom and open at its top and said-shells having an air passage therebetween to provide a downdraft of air' supplied to the draft openings of the burner, insulation means surrounding the inner shell, upper and lower plates in'the inner shell forming an air chamher, an inlet tube and an outlet tube for the air chamber leading to the atmosphere to circulate air through the chamber to be heated, and fire Gerdes Sept. 1, 1908 Name Date Matthews et a1 Dec. 22, 1914 Pierce May 21, 1918 Lukaszewski Jan. 27, 1920 Clarke Mar. 2, 1920 Browne Mar. 9, 1926 Kinsman Aug. 25, 1936 McCollum June 24, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Apr. 15, 1903 

